Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

A deeply committed film that has been widely misunderstood.

Rohan Chand as the man cub

This,
being a Netflix release, is available only briefly in cinemas which is
a shame since it is a film which looks thoroughly at home on the big
screen (I saw the 2-D version which is fine). On this occasion, I
viewed it after reading reviews that were strongly critical: one
regarded it as too violent for children and the other thought that, as
yet another screen retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book
tales, it was superfluous. I believe that these points are invalid
because Andy Serkis, whose project this is, has given us something
distinctive.

In this treatment written by Callie Kloves we are no longer in a Disney world. The 1967 version, The Jungle Book,
was great but strictly U certificate stuff and memorable for its songs:
the 2016 remake may have been more violent, but it stayed within the
bounds of a PG certificate and it was still suitable for the inclusion
of songs. Mowgli is a far
darker piece, in many ways a tough movie, but that is what makes it
distinct from rival versions set up as family entertainment in the
broadest sense. Some younger children used to more violent fare these
days may take it all in their stride, but Mowgli
is essentially a work akin to today’s young adult novels which treat
issues that not so long ago would have been deemed unsuitable for the
teenagers who now represent their main target. If adults can take
pleasure from this film, so too can those just old enough to look down
on animal tales geared to the very young.

This
is fitting because Kipling’s tale is not escapist. The jungle world
(here it’s South Africa standing in for India) is a harsh place and one
that contains two villains: there is the tiger Shere Khan representing
the ruthlessness in nature and then we have the hunter, John Lockwood
(Matthew Rhys), illustrating man’s propensity for violent acts. Mowgli
(Rohan Chand) is the orphaned boy brought up by wolves and as such he
is a hero who feels an outsider and is often treated as such both in
the animal kingdom and in the man village. On the knife-edge between
being ‘different’ with all its drawbacks and being ‘special’ and so
able to relish his individuality, Mowgli is a figure who invites
audiences not just to relish his adventures but to think about
real-life contemporary parallels.

Most
of the characters here are animals who talk, a convention that one soon
accepts, although the use of performance capture techniques is not at
its most telling here (the need to portray a range of animals of
recognisable species plays down the impact of seeing the actor within).
But Chand is good, Serkis directs with a sure touch confirming the
skill that he displayed when making Breathe
and there is another notable asset too: bold and strong, Nitin
Sawhney’s music store is less background than an integral part of the
experience. On its own terms, which make comparisons irrelevant, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, certificate 12A, is a success.